


On Holiday At The Sanctuary

by NeverlandBae



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-11 13:14:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10465860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverlandBae/pseuds/NeverlandBae
Summary: These are going to be a series of small one offs since I suck at actual full fics.





	1. Who's Paul Stanley?

Things between the Saviors and Alexandria had been rocky at best before the fight broke out. One of Negan’s men said the wrong thing to Michonne, and while she brushed it off, Rick did not. He’d thrown a hell of a punch, hitting the guy square in the jaw and knocking him back into a truck before he was on him again. At the end of it all, three Saviors were dragging Rick away from his opponent and Negan was standing by, shaking his head.  
  
Negan was a fan of being creative with his punishments, and using Carl had worked before with Rick. It had worked so well, in fact, that it was the first thing he thought of when it was time to get Rick back in line again. So after a long lecture about working together, and respect, two of Negan’s men were dragging the one-eyed boy off to the back of a truck while the other three kept hold of Rick who struggled against them. Negan smiled while he told Rick that Carl would be safe and sound, waiting to return home to Alexandria as soon as Rick got his shit in order and started cooperating with him the way he was supposed to be.  
  
It had been nearly a month and while Negan was pretty sure Rick had learned his lesson, based on the extra loads Alexandria was delivering and the way Rick pleaded every single chance he got to get Carl back, he found it strangely pleasant having Carl around the Sanctuary. That was, after the first week of glaring and death threats from the teenager. Negan kept Carl close, not wanting to risk losing his bargaining chip, and made him somewhat of an assistant. His jobs were simple enough, and made Negan’s life a hell of a lot easier. Hold Lucille, get some food, find what’s-his-name, bring back some aspirin. Somehow in the following weeks they made it work, and Negan and Carl had built something like trust between them. Negan had held up his promise so far, keeping Carl well and happy while he stayed, and so Carl decided not to kill Negan in his sleep. For now. It seemed like a fair compromise.  
  
One evening, after Carl had gone to fetch dinner for the both of them and brought it back to Negan’s room, Negan caught Carl staring off into the corner. He followed his gaze to the old acoustic guitar leaning on the wall. He hadn’t taken the time to sit down to play in months. Carl seemed pretty intent on it though. “You play?” Negan asked, snapping Carl out of his trance. The boy blinked a few times, turning his attention back to the older man before shaking his head. “No. Do you?” Carl asked curiously.  
  
Negan grinned, a small one by his standards. “Well I’m no Paul Stanley but I can do a thing or two.” He told him, leaning over the side of the couch to grab the guitar. “Who’s Paul Stanley?” Carl asked while Negan plucked at a few of the strings and adjusted the knobs. He stopped what he was doing to look at Carl and shake his head. “Ancient history now.” Negan shrugged. After a few more adjustments, he started to play.  
  
Carl didn’t recognize the song, but that was no surprise. Music was kind of a luxury in their world. His group rarely had time for those things, they were always too focused on what they needed, how to survive. Carl stayed quiet while Negan played, watching how his hand movements lined up with the notes he was hearing. It was strange to him, Negan actually looked kind of peaceful while he played. He wasn’t being sarcastic or crude, which seemed to be his default setting. Whatever the song was, it sounded kind of dark and low, but not in a sad or depressing way. It was kinda nice, he thought while he listened.  
  
All too quickly, the song was over and Negan was looking up from the guitar to see what Carl thought. What Carl was thinking was that watching Negan play, he could have just been any other guy from before the dead started walking the earth. “I liked it.” Carl spoke up, breaking the silence after the song. Negan smiled, shrugging a little, acting like he didn’t enjoy the compliment.  
  
“It was one of my hobbies from before. I can play a mean game of ping-pong too.” Negan laughed. Carl looked at him a little strangely. Negan was about to go into further detail when Carl spoke up again. “Do you know how to play any other songs?” The teenager asked. Distracted from his ping-pong comment, Negan answered. “Yeah, a bunch of ‘em.” He nodded. “Will you play more?” Carl asked. Negan thought about it for a second, deciding it felt good to get out of his head and pick up his guitar after so long. “Sure, kid.” Negan answered, then began plucking the strings again, finding the right chord for the next song.

 


	2. Settling In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Negan is trying to keep Carl at a distance and he's failing.

Two months had passed and Carl was still living in The Sanctuary. Negan was now all but ignoring Rick’s pleas to have his son returned. He had started bringing Carl on the trips to Alexandria, so the boy could see his family at least. But he still hadn’t fully committed to letting him go back just yet. Truth be told, he’d grown fond of the little serial killer. And since he wasn’t dead yet, he felt like Carl might just be settling in a little more around the Saviors.   
  
He’d noticed little things here and there. Carl was building friendships with his people. There were now Saviors who greeted him by name when he walked by, vendors downstairs that held special things aside because they knew the one-eyed boy would like them. Negan never remarked on any of it though, for fear that if he did, it would remind Carl that he was supposed to be ‘captive’ and not just on holiday from Alexandria.   
  
There were even several times where the two of them had had long talks into the night and there were almost no threats made whatsoever. It was the night with the guitar that had started it. And now there had been a few nights where Carl would request that Negan play something he hadn’t heard yet. Not that he minded. But he’d been keeping Carl at arms distance as well. So he would play, as requested, but then he would gruffly end with some kind of ‘don’t make this a habit’ remark. Carl clearly seemed to ignore that advice though.  
  
Negan was just getting back from an overnight trip to one of the other communities that worked for them. There had been some issues with light loads the past few weeks. So Negan decided to go along and remind them of his presence. No one had died, although threats had been made. And the trucks they left with were full, like they should have been. Negan entered The Sanctuary to a heroes welcome, as usual, telling everyone how he had returned with a huge bounty of goods for them, and just how they could earn some of that bounty for themselves.   
  
After that was done, he gave his orders, having the trucks unloaded and sorted, either to the proper vendors or the assigned storage areas. Negan himself made his way up to his room, shedding his leather jacket on the way. Once in his room be tossed the jacket onto his bed, setting a backpack he’d been carrying down on the floor carefully. He took a long, deep breath, re-acquainting himself with the scent of his home. Because after all, he was only human, and humans craved comfort and safety like nothing else now that the dead were walking. He was no exception. The scent of home calmed his soul, eased his nerves. He exhaled and ran a hand through his hair before grabbing the bag he’d set down.   
  
Negan left his room, slinging the bag over his shoulder as he went back down to the main level. He was looking for Carl, since the boy was officially back on duty as his assistant, and he knew just where to find him. Carl liked to lurk around the vendors when new shipments came in. It was unlike anything he’d seen before. Sure in Alexandria they got trucks of supplies in, but it was mostly food and medicine. It was rare that they brought in fun stuff. Once in a while there would be some toys for the children of Alexandria.   
  
Down on the vendors floor, Negan walked around, refusing any kneeling so they could keep working, greeting people as he passed them, busting some balls here and there. It didn’t take long before he spotted what he was looking for. And it came in the form of a flannel shirt and shaggy brown hair.   
  
“Carl!” Negan called with a grin, watching as the other looked up from the sunglasses he was fiddling with. The left lens was missing, so the vendor told him he could have them for free since they were broken. It had given him an idea, but he was still contemplating whether or not he wanted to try it. He stuffed them into his shirt pocket and walked over to meet Negan half way.  
  
“Just the man I was looking for.” Negan said, slapping his hand down on Carl’s shoulder and turning so they could walk together. “This was a good haul. Lots of shit you’re gonna like I bet.” He went on while Carl stayed silent. “Anyway. I know there’s shit I need to attend to, since I’ve been gone for a full twenty four hours, I know someone’s fucked something up by now. So I need my assistant back in action.”  
  
Carl rolled his eye at being called an assistant, because to him it was kind of ridiculous. But he was earning points for his work and that wasn’t a bad thing, so he tolerated it. “What do you need?” Carl asked, his gaze still being captured once in a while as the tables were filled with new things. When he got back to Alexandria, he was completely set on suggesting this idea to his dad. Not only would it give people jobs, something to do, but it would be a morale booster as well. Because as archaic as they all assumed Negan to be, it was a hell of a smart system.  
  
“First. I’m fuckin’ starving. So I’m gonna need you to bring me up some lunch. Nothing in particular, surprise me.” Negan said with a nod. As they passed a table, he spotted a black leather belt, in nicer condition than the one he usually wore. So he grabbed it, nodding to the vendor and smiling. “Put it on my tab, sweetheart.” He told the older woman who was sorting things. She smiled and nodded. Then he was back to Carl. “Second, I have a bag of laundry that needs to be taken out back to be washed. You know that routine well enough.” He nodded. And Carl did, because it was a regular job for him aside from bringing meals.   
  
“That all?” Carl asked, since normally Negan didn’t come looking for him for those things, he just called them out whenever he saw the teenager. Negan looked as though he was thinking about it for a minute before stopping in the middle of the hallway that lead toward the kitchens. “Yeah, that’s all.” He nodded. “And before I forget, this is yours. Consider it a bonus for a job well done.” Negan told him, slipping the backpack off his shoulder and handing it to Carl before turning to walk away, back toward the stairs.   
  
Carl wasn’t sure about the bag, since he had never gotten any gifts like that before, not from Negan anyway. Hesitantly, he knelt down and set the bag down so he could open it. Inside there was a handful of comics, ones that he hadn’t read already which was a surprise. There were a few candy bars and two strawberry sodas, which Carl had basically become addicted to when he found one of the vendors selling them. They had been gone for a couple weeks. A little more digging revealed a gameboy at the bottom of the bag and a few games scattered with it.   
  
He actually smiled, a real genuine smile, when he pulled it out. It was green. He’d had a green one when he was younger, back before killing the undead became a regular thing. He had never told Negan about that so he knew it was just a coincidence, but it gave him a nice feeling anyway. It reminded him of happier times, being home with his parents, going to sleep in a nice warm bed while his dad switched on his night light to scare away monsters. Now the world was full of monsters, himself included.   
  
Carl took a deep breath and sighed, zipping up the backpack and slipping it onto his shoulders as he stood up again. He knew it probably wasn’t meant to be a big deal the way Negan had presented it to him. But Negan had taken the time to pack a bag full of things he thought Carl would like. So whether he had intended it or not, it was special. Still smiling, Carl made his way down the hall toward the kitchen, putting a little more thought than usual into what Negan might like for lunch.


End file.
